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Will Cuban oil find break U.S. embargo?Some facts about America's trade embargo with Cuba:• It's been U.S. policy since 1961.• It has yet to loosen Fidel Castro' names grip on power.• It has cost America little strategically or economically.Until now, that is. (I can't wait to see how this unfolds A_R)

NAFTA Publishes Self-Contradictory Pollution ReportNAFTA's environmental agency is supposed to be a watchdog that alerts North Americans to pollution threats, but it often doesn't have much of a bark, let alone a bite.Consider one of its latest findings, an enigmatic discovery about pollution released from the 126 cement plants in Canada and the United States.

Leader, Ottawa cops to discuss patrolsCanada's top Guardian Angel is scheduled to arrive in Ottawa on Monday to educate police about the controversial organization, which could patrol the streets of the nation's capital. Mega World Power ShiftSomething big has been happening in the world in recent decades. This isn’t something you’ll hear about in the news because it’s not just one event. It’s a series of events that are happening gradually and sporadically, but early signs point to a mega world power shift, which could end up being as important as the Industrial Revolution, increasingly affecting us all, in one way or another in the years ahead.

CIRA prepares to adopt new privacy policyThe Canadian Internet Registration Authority has begun the final phase of consultations on a new policy aimed at protecting the identities of people using the dot-ca domain name.

UTSA business students don't limit their ideas to U.S. bordersToward the end of each spring, an elite group of University of Texas at San Antonio graduate business students joins graduate students from Canada and Mexico to find and develop international ventures.(That's right, if we can't get this generation to integrate North America, we'll just program the next one. A_R)Future of free trade in questionHufbauer anticipates a shift in emphasis rather than a slide back into old-style protectionism. Preferential trade will trump free trade. Instead of global talks to create rules that apply to all, countries will seek bilateral and regional trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, which are mutually beneficial to their members but don't apply to the rest of the world.(Mutually beneficial! Who are they trying to kid? A_R)MILESTONE!Bahrain-US relations will enter a new era when the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into effect from Tuesday.This follows a decree from His Majesty King Hamad and a proclamation by US President George W Bush on its implementation yesterday.

US in secret gun dealThe Pentagon has secretly shipped tens of thousands of small arms from Bosnia to Iraq in the past two years, using a web of private companies, at least one of which is a noted arms smuggler blacklisted by Washington and the UN.According to a report by Amnesty International, which investigated the sales, the US government arranged for the delivery of at least 200,000 Kalashnikov machine guns from Bosnia to Iraq in 2004-05. But though the weaponry was said to be for arming the fledgling Iraqi military, there is no evidence of the guns reaching their recipient.

The US: Too late for empireAnyone who wants to write about the constitutional crisis unfolding in the United States today faces a peculiar problem at the outset. There is a large body of observations that at one and the same time have been made too often and yet not often enough - too often because they have been repeated to the point of tedium for a minority ready to listen, but not often enough

US plays a double gameThe double game began when US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad announced last November that he was prepared to open negotiations with the Sunni insurgents, to whom he referred as "nationalists". That was just a few days after the spokesman for the US military command in Iraq said its objective was no longer to "defeat" the insurgents, as distinct from foreign terrorist groups.